Next week my wife and I will be trying to take a space a military hop to Germany (Ramstein), then we hope to drive to see some of my family in Chieti, Italy (Abruzzo). I plotted out the drive as a total of 12 hours, so we'll take two days to do it. I'd like some recommendations for an overnight stop and places to see along the way and during our return. I speak a little German and fairly good Italian, so the smaller villages are fine for us. I noticed that the drive will take us through Milan (I prefer not to stop there in order to avoid parking issues), but how about the Lake Region, e.g. Garda or Como? I also noticed we will drive through Parma and Bologna. Probably too far to go on the way to Chieti, but maybe on the way back. Restaurant recommendations would be great too.

Lugano or Como would be nice stopovers. Be aware that it will get dark after 7pm; try to arrive there before if you want to enjoy the scenic Lakes and mountain area between Lucerne and Lugano.

From Ramstein you'd go via Switzerland via the Lotschberg and Simplon tunnels to Italy and go right by Lake Stresa - Stresa is a sweet lakeside town- the famous three Borromean Islands are just off shore - take a boat there the next morning and go on to Chieti.

Lake Como and especially Garda would be major detours off your direct route.

It's not impossible to go via Loetschberg - Simplon, but it would take a lot of time:
Motorway Kaiserslautern - Basel - Bern - Wimmis
local road Wimmis - Kandersteg
board car shuttle train at Kandersteg (about every 20 min)
leave car shuttle at Goppenstein and go on local road to Gampel
Simplon highway (goes up to 2000 metres, some snowfall not exluded) to Domodossola
motorway Domodossola - Rho - Melegnano (Milan) - La Stanga (Bologna) - Autostrada Adriatica A14 - Chieti

Having done some very long-day driving in Europe, I now feel from experience that it is actually easier not to plan the stops much ahead of time. Just too many unexpected things happen on the road that can slow you down or change plans. I especially don't like to go to tourist-type destinations where it becomes much harder to find a hotel and park a car.

If you speak Italian you will have no trouble finding accommodations and good food without a lot of advance planning. Will you have a cellphone with an internet connection? Plan to spend a little time at lunch figuring out how much further you want to drive for the rest of the day, and pick a smaller town -- much smaller than Bologna or Parma, like Bussetto or Cortemaggiore or Reggio Emilia -- for spending the night. Look on the hotel websites for a place to stay just a few minutes detour off the main highway.

You'll have just as much trouble parking in a town like Bologna or Parma as you would in Milan. Also, Bologna has lots of trade fairs in October, so hotels can be really expensive.

Wishing you nice weather for yoru driving days!